Shooting the Moon
by frodolove12
Summary: It is seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for and Draco Malfoy, and sixth year for Luna Lovegood. When the two are selected as head boy and girl, a romance unfolds. War rages and the two learn more about each other.
1. My Mother's Request

I stared out the tinted windows of our car at the sheets of rain pounding down on muggle London. The car pulled up to the curb and I stepped out and over to the door on the other side, opening it for my mother. We quickly walked out of the rain and into King's Cross. Walking over to platforms nine and ten, we casually glanced around to make sure no one was watching, and then walked through the barrier.

Of course, Platform Nine and Three Quarters was packed. It was warm and filled with smoke in here. I gazed around at the hazy scene. Children and teens wearing both muggle and wizard clothes dashed about, chatting with friends or finding compartments before the train set off. I felt distant from it all, like these people and I were separated by a wall. Mother pulled on my sleeve and gestured toward a lonely corner of the platform, pulling me out of my musing. I followed her much shorter figure over to the corner.

She gazed up at me, her large blue eyes wet with a myriad of emotions: love, fear, and worry, to name a few. "Draco," she said softly, "Please be safe." She reached up to touch my cheek. I turned away from her touch. Her eyes flickered with pain, but I didn't care. I had my reasons for being angry with her. And with my father. "I'll be fine." I said tonelessly. "Draco," she said again, "Don't be this way," my mother softly implored. I knew she loved me. But she hadn't loved me enough to stop what had happened this summer. "I know you're angry. I am too. I never wanted it to happen, but what choice did I have?" I just stared at her coldly. I didn't want to hear her excuses again. Of course she could have stopped it. It had been her choice to become a Death Eater, hadn't it? I wasn't going to forgive her. Not this time.

A whistle blew, signaling that the train would be leaving in five minutes. "I should be going now." I said tonelessly. My mother's eyes filled with tears, but I turned away. "Goodbye," she said softly. I grabbed my trunk and walked away from her. That was when I noticed the girl. She was staring curiously at the corner of the station where my mother and I had been talking. Who was she? I thought about it as I walked onto the train. I knew she was a year younger than I was, and in Ravenclaw. Her name was escaping me, but as I looked for an empty compartment I found myself thinking about her. Her long blond hair waved down to her back, and she had the strangest eyes. They were large and almost seemed to glow. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. I didn't care about this girl. But I did care if she had heard my mother and I. She couldn't have, could she?

I was lost in these thoughts when the compartment door slid open. "Draco!" a high pitched voice squealed. Pansy Parkinson rushed in and gave me a hug. "Hi," I said, trying to sound like I was happy to see her. Which I wasn't. Pansy had been trying to get me to go out with her since third year. It wasn't that I didn't like her: she was a cool friend. I just didn't feel that way about her. I doubted I ever would.

Next, Blaise Zabini stepped in. "Hey Draco," he said, taking a seat across from me. "Long time no see." Finally, Crabbe and Goyle lumbered in. I pasted on a fake smile for all of them. The train was picking up speed now. I thought that being with my friends would make me happy. But it didn't. Now I felt like I just wanted to be alone.

"So Draco, how was your summer?" inquired Pansy. She was leaning in closer to me as she talked. "If was fine. Same old, same old really. Practiced some quidditch, went to a few games, stayed at our summer house for a few weeks. How about you?" I answered, trying to sound normal. Pansy then went off into a long story of shopping, swimming, visiting France, and staying with her cousins. "Draco? Are you even listening to me?" Pansy said angrily about fifteen minutes later. "What? Yeah of course," I automatically answered. They continued to talk, and I would nod my head or throw in a meaningless comment every once in a while. They didn't even notice. Blaise was busy staring at Pansy. I knew he liked her, and I hoped they would get together because then she would stop chasing after me. Pansy was talking so much she soon forgot about me, and Crabbe and Goyle-well, they weren't the most observant.

The ride continued on like this for some time. I had so much to think about, I didn't care that I wasn't part of the conversation. It did bug me, however, that none of them even seemed to care. "I'm gonna go get something to eat," I said, standing up. "Okay," they all said.

Once I was out of the compartment, I wandered up the aisle, looking for somewhere I could be alone. No one was out of their compartments, so I just kept walking. Then, I heard a low, comforting voice and crying sounds coming from the nearest compartment. My curiosity got the better of me and I entered.

In the compartment, I saw that blond girl I had seen earlier today. She was already in her school robes. She was sitting next to a small girl with curly brown hair and wide, brown eyes. The small girl was crying, and the Ravenclaw was rubbing her back and talking to her. I wondered what was going on. As I entered they both looked up at me. "Sorry to intrude," I muttered, "I'll just go." "It's all right," said the blond girl. She had a wonderful voice. It was soft and had musical tones to it. "Take a seat. Maybe you can help." I wasn't sure how I could help, but I sat down nonetheless.

"What's wrong?" I said, feeling awkward. The small girl was staring at me, and she looked afraid. "Allison here was getting teased by some boys. She's pretty upset," the girl said, as she continued to comfort the girl. I felt bad, so I tried to cheer her up. "You know," I said leaning in closer, "when a boy teases a girl, it means he likes her," I said. The little girl, Allison, widened her eyes. "I'm sure Draco would know all about that," the blond whispered to Allison, who giggled. "Feeling better?" the blond asked Allison, who nodded. "Here," she said, pulling a chocolate frog out of her pocket. Allison accepted it and opened it with a look of awe. "Wow!" she said looking at the card. "He winked at me!" The blond girl laughed. "Why don't you go show you're new friends that card?" I suggested. Allison hugged the blond girl, then shyly stepped over and hugged me. I was surprised, but smiled at her. She skipped out of the compartment holding her treasured candy and card.

Now I wasn't sure what to do. "I'm sorry," I began, "but I don't know your name." The blond girl stood up and gracefully walked over to the door. "Luna Lovegood," she said in her singsong voice. And with that, she was gone.


	2. The Prefect's Carriage

A/N: Hey everyone who's reading! Here's chapter two. I'd love to hear feedback, good or bad!! Also, if Draco seems a little OOC, there's a reason, it'll just be explained later! Thoughts= italics. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter! If I did, I doubt I'd be writing fanfiction.

I stepped out after Luna, but she was gone. Where had she gotten too? I glanced around but saw her nowhere. I walked back to my compartment. "What took you so long, Draco?" whined Pansy. I just shrugged and said, "I guess I just lost track of time." Blaise was eyeing me strangely now. "Doing what?" he inquired. I ignored his question and instead said, "We should probably get our robes on now." Crabbe and Goyle pulled down our trunks and we got out our black and emerald robes.

_ I'll have to be more careful. Blaise is smart. He'll realize something is up with me. _ But I could never tell Blaise what was really wrong with me. I could never tell anyone. I was lost in these thoughts when Pansy said, "Draco, shouldn't we be getting to the prefects compartment?" "That's a good idea," I said, eager to leave Blaise's watchful presence. We slipped out of our compartment and made our way to the end of the train, where all the prefects gathered.

Pansy was chattering as we walked. "Aren't you excited?" she asked. "For what?" I answered. She sighed. "To find out who will be head boy and girl! With Granger gone the head girl position isn't tied up anymore! Wouldn't it be marvelous if you and I became head boy and girl?" She asked, her eyes shining with excitement. "Er- yea that would be cool," I answered untruthfully. Pansy's shoulders drooped. 'Cool' obviously hadn't been the response she was looking for.

We came to the large carriage just for prefects and entered. The room was crowded with people from fifth year and up of all the houses. "It's about time!" came a loud voice. I saw that it was Ernie Macmillan, that seventh year Hufflepuff. "Shove it," answered Pansy nastily. "We're prefects, and we have a duty to this school. Where were you when we were all patrolling the corridors?" Answered the Hufflepuff in a pompous voice. "That's a job for fifth year prefects. We're seventh years. We can take some liberties," Pansy answered with a sneer. She then left him standing there and went over to get some refreshments from a long table in the back of the carriage. I followed her because I didn't want to be left alone with Macmillan.

"God, he is such an idiot," Pansy said as I came over. "Typical Hufflepuff." She seemed to be expecting me to say something, but I didn't. I just grabbed a butterbeer to have something to do with my hands and sipped it. Soon, the younger Slytherin prefects had come over to us. The two boys were staring at Pansy and trying to impress her, and the girls were looking at her in awe. I smirked and drifted away from them.

Pansy really was pretty; I had to admit, even if I didn't like her. She was short and curvy with a straight black bob and side bangs. She had beautifully done makeup and was pretty smart. All the boys had crushes on her, since really, there weren't that many pretty Slytherin girls, considering the others like Millicent Bulstrode. The younger girls all wanted to be like her. I hoped she wouldn't miss me, since she loved it when she was the center of attention.

I strolled around, watching the people coming and going. I was surprised to see so many new prefects, and I wanted to know why. I walked back to Pansy, who knew all the gossip. She saw me and excused herself from the group of Slytherins. "Hey," she said, greeting me with a smile. "Hey," I answered. "So, what do you think of all the new prefects?" she asked me. _So she had noticed too. _"Why are there even so many of them?" I asked with a frown. Her eyes lit up at the prospect of gossip. "Well, it's because so many people have left Hogwarts! Granger and Weasley are gone, so the new seventh year Gryffindor prefects are that Irish kid and Lavender Brown." I followed to where she was pointing and saw who she was talking about. Seamus Finnigan was talking to a very depressed looking girl with long curly hair. "Why does she look so sad?" I asked, puzzled. "You don't know anything, do you? Her best friend was Parvarti Patil. Her parents took her out of Hogwarts. So there's a new Ravenclaw seventh year prefect too, because Padma Patil used to be the prefect. It's Cho Chang, that Chinese girl." Pansy finished. I glance at Cho Chang, who looked equally depressed as Lavender. "God, she looks miserable too!" I said. Pansy laughed. "She used to date Cedric Diggory. Then she dated Potter. I would be miserable too." She said with a laugh. "But really, she's been moping since Diggory died. But then she moved on to Potter. What a skank." She laughed again.

"There are tons of stories like that here. I bet half of these people are new. Oh, and did you hear? About the new head boy and girl rules?" She asked. "New rules?" I said. "Now, you don't have to be a seventh year to be head boy or girl! It's making some people really upset. I think it's because Hogwarts is worried about more people dropping out." As Pansy was saying this, the carriage door slid open once more. I saw her. That girl, Luna. I didn't know why, but I watched her. Pansy saw my gaze. "Who in their right mind would make Loony Lovegood a prefect? I know the old sixth year prefect left, but hell, they couldn't find anyone else?" Pansy said with a snort. "What's wrong with her?" I asked a little upset. She had seemed so nice to that small crying girl. "What isn't wrong with her? She's insane. She believes in all sorts of things. Her dad runs the Quibbler, for crying out loud. She quite the oddity." "Right," I said. "Why do you ask?" Pansy inquired suspiciously. I just shrugged.

The train came to a stop, and we all filed out to go get our stuff. I grabbed my trunk and owl cage and made my way out onto the rainy platform. Stars shined in the sky, and the moon came out, casting a glow around us. I couldn't help but think of Luna.


	3. Innocence Lost

A/N: Hello there! Me again! Well, this weekend I'm going to update a lot, since I'm not sure how much time I'll have during the week. Plus, this story won't get out of my head and I have to write it! Next chapter will have more Draco/Luna interaction, I promise. Please R&R, I love reviews! Usual HP disclaimer.

The carriages started coming to the platform. I stared at the thestrals pulling them. Yes, I could see them now. I stared in horror for a few minutes, and then got into the carriage. My friends talked around me, and Pansy was filling them in on all the new things we had learned in the prefect's carriage. I leaned my head on the cool window and closed my eyes. I didn't care about any of this nonsense gossip.

The carriage lurched to a stop. I got out and helped Pansy down, who beamed. _I should probably stop doing stuff like this. She might get the wrong idea. _We carried our stuff into Hogwarts and left it in the entrance hall, where I knew the elves would bring it up later. The crowd swelled around me as everyone second year and older walked into the Great Hall.

Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle, and I all walked to the Slytherin table and sat down. The gold plates and goblets glistened before us. The chatter in the hall was so loud, I felt like I wanted to put my hands over my ears. It was useless for anyone to try to make conversation in this noise, and I was grateful for that.

Suddenly, the large doors at the end of the hall were thrown open, and Professor McGonagall walked in with the first years trooping behind her. I couldn't help but think about how small they looked--and how amazed. There eyes were wide with excitement and wonder, and I wished I could go back to a time when I felt that way. But now I knew that the magical world wasn't all fairies and unicorns. It was also darkness and death. They didn't know about that though-- they were so innocent.

I watched as McGonagall pulled out a scroll with everyone's name on it, and called the first kid up. He looked so nervous, like he was about to throw up. I watched the line get shorter and shorter as the kids got sorted. I clapped whenever there was a new Slytherin. Then, I saw that little curly-haired girl, Allison, go up. I wanted to know where she would go. The hat took a long time with her. Then, it called out "RAVENCLAW!" _Well, that's good. Now she can have Luna to help her out. _Soon, the sorting was over, and the food magically appeared. I heard the exclamations from the first years and smiled to myself.

Everyone around me dug into the food, but I wasn't very hungry. I absent-mindedly played with the food I had put on my plate. Finally, the feast was over. All I wanted to do was to go up to my room and go to sleep. But I had to sit through announcements first.

Snape stood up. _Of course, he's headmaster now. _I had completely forgotten about that. "Good Evening," he began in a silky smooth voice. The hall had gotten completely silent—well, Snape did tend to have that affect on people. I tuned out the drone of announcements and instead focused my attention on the staff. Same people, except for the two new death eater faculty members. I suppressed the urge to shudder as I saw Amycus and Alecto Carrow. I knew they were trouble. Finally, Snape had stopped with the bans, lists, and other various announcements. "And now, it is time to announce our Head Boy and Head Girl. As you all know, this year we have made some changes to the program. You need not be in seventh year to qualify. So, our Head Boy is…….. _Draco Malfoy._ I felt hands pushing me to go up to the front of the hall and forced my feet to move themselves. My whole table was cheering and clapping, since a Slytherin was rarely made Head Boy or Girl.

"And our Head Girl is….. _Luna Lovegood." _ Of course, the Ravenclaws were cheering, but all the other houses looked angry. _Well, she is only a sixth year. _I watched her rise gracefully and walk up toward me, her long blond hair swinging behind her as she walked. We were presented with our badges, which were large and gold, with a HB and HG on them. "The rest of you are dismissed." Snape drawled out, almost lazily. "You two, follow me." Snape said curtly. We followed him out of the hall through a back door and up to the Headmaster's office.

"I am sure you two are both aware of your duties, but I will go over them with you. You are in charge of the prefects, so you can give them jobs to do and make sure they are doing them well. You also are to help the teachers with whatever they need help with. You are to patrol the corridors at night to make sure no one is out of bed. Usually, during the first weeks of term, first years are out to test the boundaries. If you find them out of bed, give them detention, or send them to a teacher. Understood?" Snape finished. He had said all this very quickly. We nodded. "Good. You begin your first patrol tonight. Now, I have matters to attend to." He strode out of his office, his black robes billowing behind him as always.

"Perhaps we should be going?" Luna said in her musical voice. I nodded and stood up. "What time do you want to begin patrolling?" she asked softly. "Er—how about eleven?" She nodded and said, "Let's meet on the third floor, by that large suit of armor?" I nodded my consent. "Well, see you later then," she said with a mysterious smile. Then she slipped out of the office, leaving me alone with my confused tangle of thoughts.


	4. A Midnight Stroll

A/N: Here it is!! R&R as always. In this chapter, you'll get to see a little of why Draco is acting like he is.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potter, quite obviously!! ;)

I made my way back up to the common room. I had gotten the password from a passing Slytherin in the hallway. "Periculum," I said, and entered. My fellow seventh years were seated around the fire in the large black armchairs by the hearth. I dropped down into a chair next to them. "It's not fair!" Pansy was saying angrily. "That ditz doesn't deserve to be head girl! What has she ever done for the school?" Pansy was really angry, so I knew not to say anything. She had quite the temper.

"Well, congratulations Draco," said Blaise. "I knew it would be you." "Thanks," I said with a small smile. The truth was, I didn't really know why this was such a big deal. But I didn't say that. We stayed around the fire for a few more hours. I got out a book and started reading, wanting to escape all of this. When it was ten to eleven I stood up and stretched my tall frame. "I gotta go patrol the corridors. See you guys tomorrow morning," I said. They all said goodnight, and I stepped out of my common room and made my way up to the third floor.

She wasn't there when I arrived, so I took a seat on the floor and leaned against the wall. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, but the next thing I knew I was asleep.

_I stood in a circle, wearing a dark robe and mask on my face. A tall figure with red slits for eyes stood in the center, wand raised. A figure was on the floor, twitching and screaming—the most terrible screams I had ever heard. I watched in horror. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the person on the floor. The man in the center raised his wand, and with a flash of green light the person was dead, their screams still echoing in my ears. _

The next thing I knew, I was being gently shaken. I woke up, panting, looking around. "I'm sorry," said a velvety voice that I had heard a lot that day. "I don't mean to be rude, but you looked like you were having a nightmare." I saw that Luna was there sitting next to me and looking concerned. I stood up, swaying. I felt sick. Luna steadied me. "It's alright," she said quietly. "Come on, I know a place we can go," she said and began walk, holding on to my hand since I still felt unsteady on my feet. I didn't know where we were going and closed my eyes, because I felt dizzy.

Five minutes later, I heard a door open and then close. I opened my eyes and saw that we were in a room with a high vaulted ceiling. It was filled with comfortable looking chairs, a table, a fire, and a bookcase, filled with books and an odd assortment of items. I sat down on one of the chairs. "What is this place?" I asked in amazement. In all my years at Hogwarts I had never been here. It was like another common room. "It's not the Room of Requirement, is it?" Luna smiled and shook her head. "I discovered this place in my third year. I'm not really sure what it is. I think it used to be some sort of meeting place for a club, but it was forgotten. I tried to tell others about it, but no one believed me. They thought I was just making up stories. So I've been using it as my own place. I come here when I want to be alone." She peered at me with her large eyes, and she looked worried again. "Tea?" she asked. I just shook my head.

We sat in silence for a while. I was starting to feel better. "Erm—maybe we should go?" She just nodded and rose from her chair, leading me out of the room. I watched in amazement as we stepped out of a stone door that blended in perfectly with the wall.

We walked up and down the corridors. I liked that she wasn't pestering me, like I knew Pansy would be. "Thanks," I said in a low voice a while later. She just smiled at me and said, "It was nothing." "Wanna sit down? We've been patrolling for a while now," I said. She nodded and sat down on the ground, leaning back against the wall.

"You're different," Luna said after another silence. "What?" I said, taken aback. "You're different than you were last year. Something's changed with you." It was a question, not a statement. "I guess you could say that," I answered, uneasy at her perceptiveness. "You can see thestrals." Another statement. I looked at her in alarm. "How do you-?" She just shrugged. "I'm good at reading people. I can see them too." I just nodded. She started humming softly to herself. "That's a nice song," I commented. "My mother used to sing it to me," she said quietly. "Used to?" "She's dead," she said, but not sadly. "I'm sorry," I answered. "Don't be. I'll see her again some day." I was amazed at her.

I watched her as she hummed quietly. She really was pretty. Her long blonde hair went down to her waist, and her large blue eyes had long, white blonde lashes. I noticed a necklace of butterbeer corks. "Nice necklace," I said, not sarcastically. "Thank you." She replied. We sat in silence again, but it was a comfortable silence. Luna had started to nod off, and I noticed her shivering. I put my arm around her and held her close to me. Her sleeping head leaned against my body. I had to admit, it felt nice.

As Luna slept on me, I wondered what was different about her. I felt I like I wanted to get away from all my other friends, but not from Luna. I felt fine sitting with her and talking to her. Why? She seemed to understand that I didn't want to talk. She seemed to know what I was feeling. But how? A little bit later, she woke up in my arms. "You were shivering," I said. "Very chivalrous of you," she said with another smile. Then she yawned. "We should get going. See you tomorrow." I nodded as she loped away, feeling slightly dizzy again.


	5. Acting up in Defense Against the Dark Ar

A/N: Thanks to anyone who's reading this! I hope this chapter is a little more exciting than the other ones. Just be warned, there's a little violence in here, but no too bad. Please, please review! Also, I don't own anything HP. Enjoy!

The next morning dawned bright and early. I was surprised to find myself waking up late, at least later than I had all summer. I had actually slept through the night, and it was now past eight o'clock, which didn't leave much time for breakfast since lessons would be starting soon. Sleeping through the night without being plagued by nightmares had put me in a good mood, and soon I was absent-mindedly humming as I put on my robes. I realized I was humming the tune Luna had been humming last night, and then I stopped.

I was thinking of my dreams last night as I walked out of the dungeons and up towards the Great Hall. They had definitely been dreams, not nightmares, but what they were about I couldn't quite figure out. They had been full of soft white light and music, and I had never had anything like them. But still, it was such a refreshing change from nightmares that the smile on my face as I greeted my friends was genuine. "Someone's in a good mood this morning, now aren't they?" said Blaise, laughing. I simply shrugged and had a little breakfast. I was also surprised to find myself eating, since I couldn't even remember the last time I had had an appetite.

Professor Slughorn was passing out our schedules. I opened my scroll and glanced down the list. "Not too bad, huh?" I said showing my schedule to Blaise. "Better than mine. I have double transfiguration with _Gryffindor _first thing!" Pansy laughed at that as she slid her eyes over her own schedule. "What do you have first, Draco?" inquired Pansy. "I have Defense Against the Darks Arts, with Ravenclaw." I said. _I wonder how Amycus Carrow will be as a teacher. _"Well, I think we should get going, don't you?" I said, noting how most people were already hurrying off to lessons. We all got up and said goodbye for the morning.

When I entered the Defense classroom, it was already packed. I took a seat at the last available table. The bell was going to ring in a minute, and everyone was sitting in their seats now and not talking so loudly. That was when the door opened, and she stepped in. Luna. She glanced around, saw the last empty seat by me, and sat down. All the Slytherins began laughing. "What are you doing here?" I said, more roughly than I had intended to. She simply raised her eyebrows at me. "There's no need to be so snappish. I'm on an advanced Defense program." "Good luck Draco!" called someone up front. I turned toward her with my best sneer on my face. "Why don't you try to get here a little bit earlier, so I don't have to sit next to you, Loony Lovegood," I said, malice apparent in my voice. She just stared at me with those huge, silvery blue eyes of hers. She wasn't angry, I could tell. "Well, if you don't like sitting next to me, maybe you should also get here a little earlier," she said coolly, and too quietly for the others to hear her. Then she turned away from me as Amycus Carrow entered the classroom.

_Why did I just do that? _He stood up at front, glaring at us all with his mean little eyes. "Well, today I'm gonna go over how things are gonna work in here," he said in a rough, brutish voice. "I am Professor Carrow, and you brats will all show me respect," he continued on. "This year we will be studying dark curses, dark and cursed objects, and, my favorite, the Cruciatus Curse," he said, now pacing between the desks. "Today, we'll start out with a little about the Cruciatus, which will come in useful later when we begin to practice it," he said, an evil smile apparent on his lopsided mouth.

That was when Luna raised her hand. _What is she doing?_ "Yes, blondie?" he snarled out. _ That is completely inappropriate. _"Sir, I was just wondering about something that you said," Luna began, her usually dreamy voice a little hard. "You said we would be _practicing _the Cruciatus?" "Are you deaf?" growled Carrow, now coming over to our desk and placing his hands on it as he leaned in closer to Luna. Up this close, I could smell his putrid breath and see his crooked, yellow teeth. I instinctively leaned back, but Luna sat up straighter and looked him in the eye. "But sir! That's illegal! You can't possibly have us doing that!" Luna exclaimed, her large eyes going wide. "I'll have you doing whatever I want," he said leaning in even closer to her. Luna's eyes hardened. "I won't do it," she said, conviction firm in her voice.

Amycus Carrow seemed to swell with anger. Then he slapped Luna in the face. Hard. She let out a little gasp and her hand went up to her cheek, which I could see was already red. I felt myself standing up and pulling out my wand. "Don't you dare touch her!" I shouted, feeling the anger rise up in me. This man showed how much I hated Death Eaters. Oh, how I would love to curse him into a million little pieces for what he had just done. "You coward! She's a sixteen year old girl! You're a grown man! Why don't you go pick on someone your own size?" I shouted, pointing my wand directly at his heart. "Sit down, Draco," he said coldly. "I bloody well won't sit down!" I said, blood rushing in my ears. He simply reached over and slapped me in the face. I sat down immediately from the shock, gasping. He had hit hard. I felt my vision swimming, and then I felt a comforting hand squeeze mine under the desk. Amycus Carrow leaned in close so that just Luna and I could hear him. "Your father will be hearing about this," he snarled to me. Then he straightened up and turned to the shocked class.

"Let those two be an example to you of what happens to anyone who disobeys me," he said, smiling lopsidedly at the class. "You two will also have detentions. Friday night, 7:00. Be at my office. And be thankful it's not worse," he finished.

I didn't even know what happened the rest of the lesson, if you could call it a lesson. I was so angry. _That bastard. I want to kill him. How dare he touch her?_

The bell rang, and I stormed out of there. I hated him. I stomped down to the Great Hall for lunch, ignoring the calls of my name that I heard behind me.


	6. First Kiss

A/N: This chapter will have a little more romance in it, so tell me how I do with that. ReviewS???

I marched over the Slytherin table and sat down. Pansy looked at my face and gasped. "Draco! What happened?" She asked. "Amycus Carrow happened," I growled. "He hit you? Why!" Pansy said, horrified. "Because that ass hole thought he could hit a girl!" I snarled. "What happened?" Pansy asked, clearly confused. I forced myself to take a few calming breaths and told her what had happened. "Draco, why would you do that? You just risked losing your head-boyship for that idiot!" Pansy said angrily. "Don't call her an idiot," I said, irritated. "Since when do you care what I call her? She's friends with Potter," Pansy said. "I really don't want to listen to you right now," I said, getting up and leaving her sitting there. I stalked out, not realizing that Snape was watching me the whole time.

I made my way down towards the Slytherin common room, prepared to sit out the rest of the lunch hour alone. Once there, I dropped down into an armchair and rested my head in my hands. What did I just do?Now I had made Pansy upset. I sighed and leaned back, closing my eyes. What would my father think of this? I knew he wouldn't be pleased. I sighed. Well, I would just have to deal with that later. But was this how every Defense class was going to be? How I could survive through them? I was left to these thoughts until the bell rang, when I shouldered my bag and headed down to Charms with Hufflepuff.

When I got there I took a seat next to Blaise, who stared quizzically at my face, which I know knew had a large bruise on it. "What happened?" he asked. "Later," I muttered, glancing at all the Hufflepuffs who were listening in. Professor Flitwick entered the classroom and began lecturing about some new charm we would be learning today. I totally checked out for most of the lesson, and I knew that Blaise noticed. When the bell rang, we got up and headed toward dinner. "So are you going to tell me what happened?" he asked once we reached the Great Hall. I nodded as we sat down. I told him what had happened, and he looked worried. "That's not good, Draco. I'm sure you don't want him as your enemy. And you know what people will think about you and Lovegood, don't you? Not to mention its putting your being head boy at risk," Blaise said slowly. "Yea, I know. But I couldn't let him do that. I don't even care about being head boy," I said. Blaise just raised his eyebrows. "You never responded to what I said about you and Lovegood," he said, watching me carefully. "Maybe I don't care what people think," I answered. Blaise just smiled. "So this would be why Pansy is glaring daggers at you right now, wouldn't it?" He said with a laugh. I just nodded. "I think I'm gonna go back to the common room. I'm not very hungry," I said, standing up. Blaise nodded and watched me go, looking very thoughtful.

I walked out into the deserted hallway, wandering aimlessly. That was when I felt a hand clench painfully on my shoulder and I jumped from surprise. I looked to see the tall form of Severus Snape scowling down at me. "My office. Now," he said in a dangerous voice, quickly striding ahead of me.

I followed him. I had a bad feeling about this. As we came to the gargoyle it stepped aside, and we went up the moving spiral staircase. As soon as the door closed behind us he turned towards me. "What in the world were you thinking, Draco?" he began in his most dangerously calm voice. "I was thinking that I wasn't going to let that idiot you call a teacher slap a girl around," I said loudly. "But if you don't really care how your staff treats its pupils-" Snape cut me off. "Of course I care. But do you really think I'm the one who put that man here? Think Draco! Who do you think is controlling Hogwarts?" "I couldn't just sit there and watch that," I said, more quietly now. "You need to use your head. What do you think your father will say about that? Better yet, if it were to reach the ears of the Dark Lord, how would he react to that?" Snape said nastily. I didn't say anything. "You need to realize what position this puts me in. You'd do well to remember not to act up in the Carrows'classes, and tell your little friend to do the same. Be thankful all you got were detentions," Snape finished. "Is that all?" I said sarcastically. He glowered at me but gestured towards the door.

I left, feeling even angrier than I had before. So I should have just sat there and watched? I returned to the common room and started to work on my homework, trying to distract myself. It worked a little bit and I started to cool off. I noticed that none of my friends came to sit by my. _Blaise is probably with Pansy. Oh well. _ A few hours later I glanced at the clock and realized I should be going out to patrol with Luna. My heart seemed to beat a little faster. What would I say to her? I knew I had to apologize for how rudely I had spoken to her. I got up and walked out, heading towards the third floor to where we had met last night. My heart seemed to stop as I saw her standing there, obviously waiting for me. I walked over to her. "I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't-"

She just shushed me and smiled at me. "That was so brave what you did. Thank you," she said. I just stared. So she wasn't mad? I could see the large, dark bruise on her face. I gently touched it with my fingers. She grabbed my hand and pulled in closer to me. "You're the brave one," I whispered, leaning down towards her. Our lips met and we gently kissed. I didn't even know for how long. Her lips were soft and warm, and I felt like I was dreaming. We pulled apart, and I looked into her eyes. Then she held my hands as we began to patrol.


	7. Choices

A/N: Thanks so much for all the awesome reviews! Thanks to TinkerBella24Gerf, Hawk's-GaL4077, Bunny, and Cle de Demoiselle- you all rock! So this next chapter's a little on the short side, but I wanted to update. Review please!

The next morning, I woke up and went downstairs for breakfast, feeling tired but happy. I was glad I didn't have Defense today. I walked out of my dormitory, again noticing the complete absence of any of my friends. As I entered the Great Hall, I saw them all sitting together. Blaise waved to me, and I came over. Pansy still looked upset at me and didn't say much as we ate. I got up early, not wanting to sit in this tense environment. "Later," I muttered to Blaise. Once I walked out, I heard loud noises coming from a nearby classroom and stopped. It sounded like someone was yelling at someone, and the other voice was too quiet for me to make out. I silently eased the door open so that whoever was inside wouldn't hear me.

I was confused at what I saw at first. A tall boy, who I quickly realized was Theodore Nott, was looking down at someone who was blocked from my view. He was speaking roughly and angrily. Suddenly, he grabbed something I recognized as a wand… a wand I had seen before. I stepped into the room, my anger coming before my common sense once again. "What the hell do you think you're doing Nott?" I practically shouted. He spun around in surprise but then grinned casually at me. I walked over so that I was standing right next to them. Luna looked surprised, so I knew whatever was happening here must have just started. "I asked you a question," I growled. Nott looked surprised. "I was just talking to Loony here about how she embarrassed you in front of the class yesterday. I was going to make sure it didn't happen again," Nott finished. "Give her back her wand," I said, my voice shaking with anger. Nott just stared at me, his eyes narrowing slightly now. "I don't think I will," he said with a sneer. I pulled out my wand and pointed it at his chest. "Draco, no!" cried Luna, grabbing my wrist.

At that moment, Pansy and Blaise walked in, obviously drawn towards the noise. Pansy gasped as she saw Luna's hand on my arm. "You- you- with- _her!" _she said with a shriek, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Pansy-" I said, but she was already tearing out of the classroom.

Nott glared at me. "I've guess you've chosen _her _over your friends," Nott said, throwing Luna's wand on the ground and stalking out. Luna didn't say anything as I picked up her wand and handed it to her. We just looked at each for a long time, and then the bell rang. We dropped our gaze and walked out, not saying goodbye. We didn't need too. We both understood that things had changed. With Pansy's incredible knack for gossip the whole school would know about us before lunch.

Sure enough, when I walked into the Great Hall after my free period that morning everyone seemed to be staring at me. I tried to ignore but it was hard too. People pointed, whispered, and giggled as I walked toward the Slytherin table at sat alone near the end of it.

I kept my head down and ate quickly before leaving. I wasn't used to this and I didn't like it at all. My next class was Transfiguration with Ravenclaw and I had some time to kill. I went back to my common room alone, which I noted bitterly was becoming a regular thing for me to do. I waited as long as possible before Transfiguration, dreading having class with the two houses that probably now hated me the most. _Well,_

I entered only a few seconds before the bell rang. Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows at me but didn't comment. I still caught stares and whispers coming at me before the bell rang, but just ducked my head so I wouldn't have to see it as well as hear it. I knew that Professor McGonagall was watching me, but I didn't really care.

I tried to take notes, but it was hard when people would stare at me when McGonagall's back was turned. I knew she noticed that I wasn't paying attention either, but she didn't call on me and I was grateful.

As the bell rang, I stood up and prepared to get out as quickly as possible and skip out on dinner. "Malfoy, could you bring me up that box of hair pins?" called Professor McGonagall from the front of the room. I inwardly groaned and waited for the swell of students to leave. On his way out, Theodore Nott roughly shoved into me, causing me to stumble backwards into the wall. "Five points from Slytherin, Nott," McGonagall said sharply, even though her back was to us. Nott gave me a look of disgust before walking out.

I slowly walked up to the front of the room. "Here you are, Professor," I said quietly as I handed her the box. She was eyeing me again. "Fifty points to Slytherin," she said as she put the box away in a drawer under her desk. "What?" I said, confused. She gave me a rare smile. "I appreciate your help," she said, like she didn't know why I was so confused. I tentatively smiled back. "Thanks," I said quietly. She nodded and gestured for me to leave, which I did. _Well that was odd. _

I decided to skip out on dinner, but I didn't feel like going back to an empty dormitory, either. Then it hit me. _I can go to Luna's secret room._ I glanced around to make sure I was alone and that quickly set off for it, hoping I could find it again.

After about twenty minutes of searching, I was successful. I pushed on the stone and as I stepped into the room, I saw Luna already sitting there, reading a book. She looked up at me and we gazed into each other eyes for a few seconds before she rose to meet me.


	8. Questions and Cocoa

A/N: Well, here it is! Hope everyone enjoys it. Thanks as always for the reads and reviews!

The next few weeks seemed to slip away like a gently winding river. Time seemed to be moving strangely to me. With all the hatred I felt hurled my way by my house, I felt like I was in an angrily churning sea and struggling to keep afloat. When I stole those moonlit hours with Luna, the water seemed to become calm. She was the only thing that made the insults, shoves, and icy stares bearable.

Tonight, we were meeting once again by the suit of armor. When I saw her, it seemed like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I came up to her and kissed her soft lips. When we broke apart there was a smile playing at the corners of her mouth, but something seemed wrong. I didn't ask, hoping she would tell me whatever was bothering her.

After we had walked around a bit, I could sense that something was still wrong. I led her behind a statue and gave her a soft kiss. "What's wrong? You don't want to kiss?" I said, feeling worried. She looked up at me and her eyes seemed to be searching for something. "It's not that," she said quietly. "What-" "Let's go to the room. We can talk there," she said as she took my hand and started walking.

When we reached the stone door I was slightly perplexed. Was she upset at me? Luna rarely got upset, so it couldn't be that, could it?

I took a seat on a couch, pulling Luna by her waist onto my lap. She giggled. "So what do you want to tell me?" I said in her ear. She looked into my face, and I felt my heart beat faster. "It's not that I don't like kissing you. It's just that I feel like I don't know you," she said softly. I looked at her, confused. "I want to know everything about you. Your favorite things, your hopes, your fears, your dreams," she gaze me a searching look.

"All right. Ask away then," I said, smiling. Of course, this was what worried Luna. "What's your favorite color?" she asked, curiosity apparent in her voice. "Green or blue," I said. "What shade?" I laughed, wondering why she cared so much. "Dark, I guess, for both of them," I answered. "What's your favorite color?" I asked, suddenly curious. She was right. I didn't really know that much about her, did I?

A dreamy look seemed to come into her eyes. "Oh, it's hard to pick just one. I suppose silver. Shimmering, sparkling silver. It's such a mysterious color," she answered.

She began to ask more questions like this, including my favorite flower. "I don't really have one. They all seem the same to me," I said with a shrug. "Oh, you can't really mean that. Flowers are as different as people. There are different shapes and sizes and the colors are amazing. My favorite's a rose," she said.

I took a mental note of that as she continued on with questions. It was getting later, and she had started asking questions that took more time to think about. "How many times have you been in love?" she asked, more quietly than the others. I looked into her eyes and said, "Just once." I leaned in to kiss her for the third time that night.

Kissing Luna was the most amazing thing I had every experienced. It was hard for me to describe them. It was like time was irrelevant.

When we broke apart, I lay down on the couch and pulled her down with me. She asked me a few more questions. "What is your greatest fear?" She asked. I felt my body tense and my throat tighten. Oh, I knew what my greatest fear was. But I couldn't tell her. Not now.

She noticed my reaction. "You don't have to answer," she said gently. After a few more questions, Luna's voice was becoming quieter and quieter until I knew she had fallen asleep. Lying there, warm and comfortable, was making me drowsy. I struggled to keep my eyes open but was soon asleep.

_I knocked on a heavy wooden door, feeling so afraid and nervous I thought I might throw up. "Enter," hissed a cruel voice. I pushed the door open and walked across the room, towards a high backed chair next to a fire. The chair's back was to me so that I couldn't see the occupant of the chair. I stood in silence, the tension building up. "Why are we here, Draco?" the cold voice coming from the chair asked. "B-because I failed my mission," I said, voice shaking. "And what was your mission?" the cold voice asked again. "To kill Dumbledore," I said, feeling like I wanted to sink into the floor. _

_ Voldemort stood up now. His tall, hooded figure began circling around me, fingering his wand. "The mission was simple. Even an imbecile like yourself should have been able to do it. You knew what you had to do. And you failed," the merciless voice harshly laughed at me. "You were well aware of the consequences of failing," he hissed, raising his wand. I barely heard the cry of Crucio before I felt the white hot knives of pain piercing every part of my body. I was on the ground, writhing and twisting, the pain all consuming and nearly unbearable. A cold laughter mingled with my the sound of my screams was all I could hear. _

I woke up, panting, the screams and laughter still echoing in my ears. Luna had woken up and was staring at me, worry etched clearly into her face. I shakily stood and walked over to the garbage can, emptying the contents of my dinner into it. Luna walked over and rubbed my back.

I sat back down, closing my eyes. I heard Luna get up and move around, but I didn't open my eyes. A few minutes later, she was pressing a steaming mug into my hands. I tried to refuse, but she wouldn't let me. "It'll help. Trust me," she said. I took a sip out of the mug and immediately felt warmth spread throughout my body. "What is this?" I asked. It tasted like hot chocolate, but different. "It's my mother's secret recipe," answered Luna. I finished it off. Luna came over next to me and rubbed my arm. "Are you ok?" she asked with concern. I just nodded. "We can talk about it," she said softly. I shook my head. She just gazed at me with worry.

I stood up. "We should get going. It's really late," I said. She stood up and nodded. We left the room. "Goodnight," she said quietly before we parted.

I returned to the common room, knowing I wouldn't be getting any more sleep tonight.


	9. A Meeting

A/N: For the purposes of this story, Muggle Studies is only going to be a required course for 1-4th years. I'm hoping nobody really cares about that, but sorry if you do. Well, please review! Love and lightning bolts =), frodolove12

Even though I loved my nights with Luna, it meant I had to get through a day of lessons before I could enjoy them. Lessons meant Defense Against the Dark Arts, which meant being forced into the company of Amycus Carrow for an hour and a half. Carrow had insisted Luna be moved back to sixth year level, saying she was not intelligent enough to be in the seventh year class.

Sitting through these lessons was almost unbearable, and the fact that Luna wasn't there didn't make it any easier. It would have been nice to see someone who didn't despise me during the day, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. So far, Carrow had just lectured on about dark curses, occasionally showing us them on spiders. While this was highly unpleasant, at least we didn't have to do them ourselves.

Carrow offered "extra credit" to students who would place the Cruciatus Curse on those who had earned detentions. Crabbe and Goyle had especially taken to this, and now they were actually getting O's in a class for the first time. It made me sick to think about it, and now I completely avoided them.

Luna was worried about the Carrows, I knew it. She had told me horrible stories about what happened in Muggle Studies, and I felt awful about it. But what could we do? No one ever stood up to them, too afraid about getting detention. It was insane to try to disobey them.

That's why I thought Luna was crazy when she told me what she did. I met her by the suit of armor, her eyes shining with excitement. I wondered what she was so worked up about, but didn't ask as I kissed her hello, knowing she would tell me soon.

"I know a way we can get back at the Carrows," she said once we had reached the secret room. I simply raised my eyebrows. "You're not serious," I said skeptically. She nodded. "Neville and Ginny came up with it really," she went on. "We're going to start up the DA again!" I didn't say anything. Hadn't I been the one to get the DA turned in to Umbridge?

Her smile faltered when she saw my reaction, because I wasn't too happy about it. "What's wrong?" she asked, coming over to sit by me. "It's just that this is risky. What if you get caught? The Carrows could seriously hurt you," I answered slowly. I could never live with myself if that man touched Luna again. Luna just looked at me. "Draco," she said softly, leaning on my shoulder. "I have to do this. It's one way I can really help. And you needn't worry. We'll be careful and discreet," she whispered to me.

I wasn't convinced though. She gently cupped her hands around my face. "You can come too," she said, so quietly I could barely hear her.

I didn't know how to respond to that. Slowly I said, "Weasley and Longbottom won't want me there." "They won't care," she answered. I shook my head. "They hate me." "You can show them you've changed. They'll believe you," she answered.

_Should I join? What if we get caught? But Luna wants me to do it. Maybe I can protect her. _

"All right," I reluctantly agreed. Luna smiled radiantly and I forgot my misgivings. We cuddled together on the couch and began to talk late into the night.

_The next day, 6 o'clock_

When I saw Luna in the hall after Transfiuguration today, she told me to meet her in the room at six o'clock. I wondered why she wanted to skip dinner, but agreed.

When I entered, I was surprised to see Weasley and Longbottom sitting there. "Draco," Luna said, rising to meet me with a smile. "I'm guessing this is about the DA?" I said slowly. Luna nodded, obviously thrilled with the plan. Weasley and Longbottom weren't looking so sure, but they didn't comment.

"Right, we should be starting," said the Weasley girl, clearing her throat. She stood up, her tomato red her swinging out behind her. She strode to the center of the room as Luna and I took a seat on the couch, Longbottom at the opposite end. Glancing at Longbottom, I was surprised to see how much he had changed. He was tall now, about the same height as me. His dark brown hair was shaggier and more untidy than I had ever seen it, and he was much slimmer than I had remembered him. I was also horrified to see two deep gashes on his cheeks, looking suspiciously like knife wounds. I remembered that he had gotten detention from Carrow, and I felt sick.

"We all know why we're here. We're going to get back at the Carrows. Now, how we're going to that we're not exactly sure. Any suggestions?" Weasley asked, looking around at the three of us. We were silent for a minute. Then Luna spoke up. "I suppose we could do little things to make them angry, at first. Like steal their things, set loose those spiders they keep to show curses on, and take their knives." Ginny nodded. "I guess that's a good start," she said. "But we need to do bigger things than that," said Longbottom, speaking for the first time. "We should get people out of their detentions, vandalize their office, stuff like that. We need to give people hope, and I doubt setting loose their spiders will really do that," he said, a little edge to his voice.

"We'll get to that," said Weasley, "but first we should see if we can get into their office without being seen. We'll do a few smaller things, and then go onto the big stuff. Ok?" she said, looking around. We all nodded. "Ok then. How about we meet here tomorrow night?" Again, we nodded. "Well, then I've gotta go," Weasley said, and Longbottom rose to meet her. They said goodbye to Luna quietly, and nothing to me as they walked out, standing next to each other.

"They don't trust me," I said quietly to Luna. She sighed. "Don't worry. They'll come around," she said, tilting her face up towards mine. I leaned down and kissed her.

We stayed together for a few more hours, before I protested that Luna should do her homework. When we parted, I couldn't help but worry. _What have I gotten myself into? _


	10. Silver Roses

A/N: Hello, me again! ^_^ I like this chapter, it's pretty funny. (I really hate those Carrows) but a little spoiler that next chapter, something is going to happen that is going to make Draco pretty upset. Any guesses? Well, enjoy! Please R&R! Love and lightning bolts, again! (Sorry if me overusing this annoys people, I thought I was pretty clever coming up with it)

I stood, shivering in the cold night air. Any sane person might ask why I was outside, at two in the morning, in the middle of November. I was on my first big DA mission.

Our first few small missions had gone well. We had tested out skills by breaking into the Carrow's offices. It was simple really. All we had to do was a simple freezing charm on the burglary system, unlock the door, and we were in. I'm not sure why the Carrows had such simple defense on their offices; perhaps they thought the fear they inspired in students would suffice.

As planned, we let all their spiders go. It was quite hilarious to see Carrow's face when he was planning to show us a curse to make eyes fall out, and there were no spiders to do it on. He was angry, but who could he blame? Next, we had stolen both of their knives as planned. This one really made them made; they cared for their knives more than they did for any student. We had also done more things like steal their plan books, let go any new spiders they got, and mix up things on their desk. This had caused them to triple security in their offices, but it was no real challenge for us. We still got past them with ease.

Longbottom and Weasley, who had been skeptical about me at first, were beginning to have a grudging respect for me. I admit, I felt the same way about them. They were much cleverer than I had previously thought. It was like we were almost friends. Almost. They still weren't one hundred percent positive about me, but I wasn't going to let them down.

Right now, I was crossing the grounds. I had previously been in the owlery, getting the items we had needed that we had stored there, deeming it the safest place. I had a black bag over my back as I silently crossed the grounds, then made my way back into a secret door in the castle we had discovered. I climbed a staircase stealthily, and before I knew it I had reached the door to one of the Carrow's offices. I knocked, two knocks, a pause, then two more, and I saw Ginny's freckled face peering at me through a crack in the door. She ushered me in quickly, happy to see that I had the bag.

I glanced around at the damage that had been inflicted so far. Papers were strewn all about the floor. The desk was overturned, the contents of it, including ink, quills, spellotape, and snacks, were scattered everywhere. Pictures on the walls were broken on the floor.

I couldn't help but grin at what they had silently accomplished. I took out the bag and tossed everyone a can of magical, non removable, spray paint. Everyone set to work right away. When we had finished, the walls were covered in messages written in bright colors. _Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting! I Love Harry Potter! You Suck!!_

We were all silently shaking with laughter when we left the room, making sure to lock it once we were gone, moving on to the other Carrow's office.

The next morning, I woke feeling tired but excited. I couldn't wait to see the looks on the Carrows' faces when they saw their offices.

When I entered the Great Hall, I could see I wasn't going to be disappointed. Alecto Carrow was talking to Snape at the staff table, her round face growing redder and redder, her finger jabbing him in the chest. The doors opened with a bang as Amycus came striding up, glaring at the kids eating, who quickly looked away. He saw Snape already with Alecto and came and joined her. Soon, they were shouting. Snape's obsidian eyes were glistening with anger as he urged them to quiet down. Soon, they had left the hall, for Snape's office, I suppose. I could just barely keep back my smile as I ate my breakfast, then headed off for class.

I was in such a good mood that not even Defense ruined it, although Carrow was pretty nasty, lashing out at students and deducting heavy points. _We actually did do something. We got them back for everything they've been doing to the students. _I barely even paid attention, happy thoughts like these racing through my mind.

By the end of the day, the news of the ransacked offices had somehow reached the whole school. Students everywhere were grinning and whispering in tight knit groups, no doubt recounting the tales to their friends. It made me glad that I had let Luna talk me into joining. It was definitely worth it.

After dinner, I went up to the common room, quickly finished my homework, then went up to my dormitory. I wanted to do something special for Luna, and as I wracked my brains I came up with the perfect idea.

At midnight, I made my way toward the suit of armor, happy that I was the first one there, as I had planned to be. When Luna came up, light and graceful on her feet as always, I felt that familiar sensation of my heart stopping. She came up and threw her arms around me, pulling me into a hug. When she release me I pulled my surprised out from behind my back.

I had made her a bouquet of roses, and had used some magic to make them sparkly silver. Her eyes went wide as she saw them. "Oh, Draco, you shouldn't have," she said, taking them. "Of course I should have," I said, leaning down to kiss her. I took her hand, leading her toward the room. I didn't really feel like patrolling tonight.


	11. Snape's Office

A/N: So sorry for not updating!! My paper took forever , but now I'm back. Well, I would really love reviews, as always! Enjoy, sorry it's a little short. Usual Disclaimer.

The next few days were filled with talk of our little mission. Everyone was happy about it, even some of the teachers, although they tried to hide it. I didn't know if Snape suspected me or not, but he warned all the students at dinner one night that there would be serious consequences for anyone who did anything like this again. But that wasn't going to stop us.

We met again a few days later in the secret room. Ginny was pacing up and down the room. "We need something else we can do. Something even bigger and better," she said. Neville was sitting on the couch, clearly lost in thought. "Well, there is something we could do," he began slowly. "But mind you it'll be risky," he continued on. "Well? What is it?" asked Ginny, stopping her pacing. "What if we stole Gryffindor's sword?" asked Neville, an edge of excitement creeping into his voice. "Are you insane?" I said, finally speaking up. "Do you know how well guarded it is there? We'd be risking expulsion!" I exclaimed. Ginny looked unsure. "He has a point, Neville," said Ginny, taking a seat next to him on the couch. "What do you think, Luna," asked Neville, wanting someone to be on his side of the argument. "I think it might be a good idea," she said quietly. "I know it's dangerous though, but I think it might be worth it," she said, turning those large eyes on me imploringly. What choice did I have but to agree?

"All right," I said in defeat. Ginny still looked upset, but didn't say anything. "We should start planning then," said Neville, smiling.

We stayed up late into the night, planning out our escapade. We had set the date for tomorrow.

I barely slept that night, nerves tingling. If we got caught…._No don't think like that. You weren't caught before and won't get caught now._ But he had a bad feeling he couldn't quite shake, and woke up the next morning extremely tired.

I hardly ate that morning and was distracted all through classes, thinking of our plan. I felt more confident about it however. I mean, we weren't caught before, were we? I began to get a bit excited about it.

Two in the morning found us creeping up towards the headmaster's office. We had gotten the password by Ginny hanging around near the gargoyle under a disillusionment charm. We crept silently up the moving staircase and into the office, muttering lumos and blinking as the light hit our eyes. Neville made his way over to the case and began undoing the charms that we suspected were already on there. Then, he used a powerful spell to silently smash the case. We all silently cheered as he pulled it out, the hilt glistening brightly. "Well, this seems like quite a cozy little get together, now doesn't it?" I heard a silky voice say from behind me and froze.

I turned around to see Severus Snape standing there, arms crossed, still in his black billowing robes, an angry expression written across his face. We all stared at him, stricken, Neville still holding the sword in his hand. "I beilieve that belongs to me," he said, striding over and taking the sword. I heard him muttering some spells, and the glass shards flew back together around the sword, which he had set down. He turned, glaring at us all. "Sit," he said, gesturing toward chairs near his desk. I sat, Luna next to me, who squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"It seems to me that I have found the culprits of the _incident _earlier this week," he said, his voice like venom. "I assume you all remember my warning?" he said, pausing and letting the nasty silence sink in around us. "All of you have detention. You're lucky it's not expulsion," he said, sneering. "I will be informing all of your parents of this," he said, his gaze lingering on me.

"Now, I suggest you two go back to bed," Snape said, looking at Ginny and Neville. "I need to have a word with these two." They left, glancing worriedly at us.

Snape turned the full force of his glare onto us.

"You both know that since you have done this, you are being replaced as head boy and girl," he said. We nodded. "Leave. Now," he said. We got up and walked out, each of us wrapped in our own quiet misery.

"I'm sorry Draco," said Luna a while later, when we were walking back to our common rooms. "Don't be. It isn't your fault. We all decided to do this," I said, pulled out of my thoughts by her remorseful tone. She still looked guilty, so I stopped and pulled her over to a corner. "Luna," I said gently, leaning in and kissing her. After we were done, we walked back in the pools of moonlight that filtered in through the windows. We parted at our usual place, Luna still looking guilty.

The next morning, I was having a little toast when my I saw my owl among the hundreds of others delivering the post. I knew this couldn't be good. I hadn't had an owl from my family all year. As it landed near me, flapping its wings, I quickly untied the small letter around its leg. In my fathers delicate script I saw the words: I shall be coming to the school for a governor's meeting next week. We will discuss the issues concerning you then.


	12. Dearest Dad

A/N: I'm so sorry!!!! I know I haven't updated I FOREVER, but I had some new stories I had to write. So forgive me please! This chapter's kinda long to make up for it. I'd appreciate it if you stuck with the story, cause I'm not giving up on it. Please review!! Thanks. :)

I could barely eat or sleep all week, thoughts of my father invading my mind every time I tried to. I knew he wasn't going to be pleased with me, and I wasn't eager to see his reaction.

Luna of course noticed. She tried to make things better, but she couldn't. No one could fix the way I felt about that man. No one could fix what he'd done, and there was no turning back.

Lucius Malfoy. Top ministry official, wealthy pureblood, respected member of society. And death eater. Did I forget to mention that?

I knew that Luna wondered about my change of heart. When did I stop acting like a spoiled little child, the bully on the playground?

From a young age, my father had made sure to tell me that the Malfoys were better than others. We were pureblood, high class, and shouldn't have to deal with muggles and muggle-born scum.

Of course I believed him. I was young. What else could I do? It was the only thing I was taught, and until Hogwarts I had never been exposed to people who didn't feel the same way.

Sure, maybe once I was older I should have known better. But it's hard to change what you've known your whole life. So what finally made me change? What could push me to realize what a coward my father was?

It happened after I became a Death Eater. When I realized what he had gotten me in to. He was the one who made me become a Death Eater. I had no choice. I think if I didn't he might have killed me. Well, either him or the Dark Lord. It wasn't like you could refuse his offer.

But I was only sixteen. Why would he do that to me? Offer me up like bait, after he had screwed up. The Dark Mark was burned into my skin, pain overriding any other emotions I felt. That didn't last long. Before pain was replaced with fear.

Fear of my new master. The Dark Lord. If he was having a bad day, or if you looked at him the wrong way, or said the wrong thing, you'd be Cruicoed before you could blink.

This new life had left me with bitter resentment against the man who called himself my father. My father had never been a kind man, but this was different. And soon he was coming to visit.

* * *

The morning of my father's visit, I woke up early after a night of fitful sleeping and shadowy nightmares. A perfect start to my day.

Not wanting to stomach breakfast, I went to the secret room, hoping that by some miracle Luna would be there with her radiant smile, ready to ease my burden a bit. She wasn't.

I sat down alone, hiding here for a few hours before realizing Luna wasn't coming, then returning to the common room. I couldn't focus on schoolwork, couldn't sleep, couldn't talk to anyone. I felt the emotions of fear and anger battling each other for the top spot, while I sat alone the whole time, dully thinking of what lay ahead.

I didn't go to lunch, nor dinner. How could I sit there with all those happy faces and chatter around me? I couldn't handle that, I knew it.

Finally, ten o'clock rolled around, the time my father had decided we would meet. I slowly made my way up to Professor Snape's office, where it was decided we would talk. Yea, talk.

I said the password and stepped onto the staircase, nerves tingling and feeling as if I would explode. My hand rested on the doorknob before I turned it.

His back was turned to me, long, pale hair smooth and shining. I felt the hatred bubble, rising to the top. I wanted to scream, shout, make him pay for what he'd done to me. So apparently anger had won out over fear. Or maybe I was just sick of being afraid all the time.

He turned slowly to face me, a smile that didn't reach his eyes playing on his mouth. "Oh dear Draco. We do need to talk, don't we?" he had began pacing around me now, still wearing that awful little smile.

I didn't say anything, so he continued. "You really can't behave this way, you know. What were you thinking? Acting like a spoiled little child, now that won't do. You really should explain yourself," he said, stopping before me.

"There's nothing to explain," I said, voice quiet but cold. "Oh, really? No reason why you broke into the headmaster's office?" he asked, smile gone now. "There was a reason. I just don't care to explain it, since I suppose you already know," I said, not caring how much trouble I was getting myself into. "Now, Draco, you know I don't tolerate disrespect. Apologize." "No."

My father's eyes darkened as he raised his arm and struck me in the face. The force of his blow sent me to the ground, but I didn't cry out. I wasn't going to show any weakness. "It seems we'll have to do this the hard way," my father said, unsheathing his wand. "Now, you know what this is for. For being such an irresponsible little bastard."

He raised his wand, and I saw his lips forming the word. _Crucio. _The pain was so intense, worse than my nightmares could ever be. I tried not to cry out, but it was useless. Soon I was screaming, and it seemed to go on forever before he stopped. As I struggled to catch my breath, my father kneeled down next to me. "Hopefully that will serve as a reminder to follow the rules. Luckily, the Dark Lord doesn't know of your misdemeanors. But there won't be any more. And you're to stay away from that _girl_." He spat out the last word, like it tasted bad in his mouth.

Smiling down unpleasantly at me, he stood up to go. On his way out, he delivered a sharp kick to my ribs that left me gasping for the little breath I had regained. Once he was gone, I sat up, leaning against the wall. Closing my eyes, I knew one thing for sure. I wasn't listening to my father, now or ever again.


	13. Tender Embraces

A/N: I know I haven't updated in a really, really long time, but I've been super busy! But now I'm back, and this story will be completed! Please review! I love to hear what you guys think. Sorry it's so short. Thanks.:)

After a few moments, I struggled to my feet, leaning against the wall for support. I waited, catching my breath, then made my laborious way toward the stairs. Once down them, I slowly made my way to the secret room, stumbling every so often.

_What are the chances of Luna being there? _I thought. I hadn't seen her all day. But I could hope, couldn't I?

Even though I had told myself not to get my hopes up, I felt the disappointment wash over me when the room was empty. Too tired to start a fire, I heavily sat down in an armchair, closing my eyes.

I must have fallen asleep, because I hadn't heard anyone come in. But there was someone here, someone with a cool hand upon my forehead.

Opening my eyes, I felt my heart begin to beat. There she was, her wide eyes staring at me with concern.

"Oh Draco," she sighed, her eyes filling with tears.

I sat up straight, and she wrapped her arms around me. I suddenly felt safe. In spite of myself, tears began to form in my eyes. And once they started, I couldn't stop them. It was as if all the emotions I had been bottling up since last summer were finally spilling over.

Soon I was sobbing in Luna's arms. She held me as I cried, gently stroking my hair.

I didn't know how long we stayed like that, but once I was done I felt exhausted. I looked up, meeting her eyes.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"You don't need to thank me," she said, with one of her lovely smiles.

"I love you Luna," I whispered, leaning in closer to her.

Then we kissed as we never had before. It was stronger, more intense, more passionate. My hands were entangled in her long hair, and we were so close I could feel the warmth radiating off her body.

I had no idea how long we kissed for. But when we broke apart, something felt different between us. Our love felt more real than it ever had before.

After a few minutes of silence, Luna spoke.

"You're hurt, Draco," she said.

"I'll be fine," I lied, not wanting to worry her.

"Tell me what happened," she asked, softly.

I hadn't planned on telling her. Or anyone. But I did anyway.

Her eyes widened again in horror as I told her what had occurred between my father and me.

"You're so strong," she said gently, stroking my hair again. It felt nice.

Now I was beginning to feel exhausted. I struggled to keep my eyes opened, but I felt my lids drooping.

"Bed," said Luna quietly.

"Really, I'm not tired," I said.

She gently helped me up and led me to the couch. She conjured up a pillow and a blanket, and together we lay down together.

I was asleep within a minute, my hand clasped in hers.


End file.
